Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures rallied sharply to kick off the week on Monday, as market players monitored near-term weather forecasts to gauge the strength of demand for the fuel.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas for delivery in October climbed 7.5 cents, or 1.96%, to trade at $3.933 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning hours.
Futures were likely to find support at $3.786 per million British thermal units, the low from September 12 and resistance at $3.994, the high from September 10.
Updated weather forecasting models pointed to rising temperatures across most of the southern U.S. states in the next three to five days, likely boosting demand for air conditioning.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report on September 11 that natural gas storage in the U.S. rose by 92 billion cubic feet last week, compared to expectations for an increase of 82 billion cubic feet.
Inventories rose by 64 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change is a build of 60 billion cubic feet.
Injections of gas into storage have surpassed the five-year average for 21 consecutive weeks, alleviating concerns over tightening supplies.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.801 trillion cubic feet as of last week, narrowing the deficit to the five-year average to 14.2% from 15.4% a week earlier and down from a record 54.7% at the end of March.
The EIA's next storage report is slated for release on Thursday, September 18, with analysts expecting a build of 93 billion cubic feet for the week ending September 12.
Inventories rose by 48 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change is a build of 71 billion cubic feet.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude oil for delivery in November shed 40 cents, or 0.44%, to trade at $90.97 a barrel, while heating oil for October delivery dipped 0.16% to trade at $2.736 per gallon.